I'm really depressed about it. My dad died in April and now this is happening. She made some really stupid decisions, so I can't totally say that it's not her fault - she just doesn't attempt any actual work at all and takes a bunch of sick/hangover days not to mention spending her money on booze, a new car and luxury stuff. I've given her money several times. A few years ago I gave her five hundred dollars and since then maybe another $400-500 total. I am short on money now and even if I had it I'm not sure giving it to her would do any good. Ugh. She has a dog that is the sweetest dog ever and she doesn't have a place for him to stay so he will probably go to a shelter. She will most likely have to live in a car because the economic climate + her horrible work history + her poor judgement prevents her from getting any more jobs. To be honest, I'm not sure she is trying her best to get one. Her philosophy is that god always have a plan, and she once told me if she becomes homeless it's for a reason. Jesus fucking christ.

What can I do? What can be done to prevent this or to help her? I feel like she's just going to keep going down a spiral until she ends up with a bunch of homeless people and drinks/drugs her life away.

You can try to do everything you can do to help but in the end, it's up to her to really get out of that mess. Hopefully your mother will realize how she got to that point and she'll take steps to rebuild her life. If not, well there really isn't anything you can do to fix that.

My mom was homeless/lived in her car and was in and out of shelters for a good portion of my childhood. She suffers from mental illness, but has thankfully gotten her shit together since then. There's really nothing you can do. Maybe if it does actually get to that point, she'll realize that she has to get it together and will start to make a change. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point, but there's really nothing you can do. As hard as it may be, try not to get too down on her because whether or not it seems that way, she already knows what a fucked up situation she's in.

It's hard to make someone change but you can offer to find her a therapist or state-sponsored rehab to get her some help before it's too late. Also, maybe you could keep the dog for a while, I'm not sure why the dog has to suffer when you could take it (hopefully).

i am in a somewhat similar predicament. my mom's boyfriend, they've been together for like 15 years but never married, is dying and literally has like 2-3 months left, if that. she has no clue if she can afford to live in her apartment anymore and will have no where to go if she can't. but she also has a terible gambling problem and i know that she makes plenty enough money to live there, but she is awful with money. so, like you, i feel terrible. but at the same time, i've seen her do the same shit all the time throughout my whole life, so i no longer feel the urge to help her, when she clearly isn't helping herself and doesn't want to acknowledge that there is a problem. so yeah, it really sucks, but i would say save your money, focus on yourself, and let her make her own decisions and mistakes. you're the kid, you shouldn't have to be taking care of her fuck ups.